Tag: Christians

Win With Class

“Turn it to MSNBC,” I said.  President Trump had pulled out to an insurmountable lead, and what better way to celebrate than to watch Rachel Maddow and her ilk come even more unhinged than they already were?  After seeing them saying awful things about good people for years, it is natural to want to see them lose it, and they did not disappoint, nor did Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, or the ladies of The View.  They turned on each other, blaming people like Joe Biden and Barack Obama for Kamala Harris’s loss.  They made full frontal, nasty, slanderous attacks on the American people.  We were called bigots and misogynists and accused of wanting an authoritarian dictator in charge.  There were tears.  Lots of tears.  It was a complete meltdown.  Online, there was more insanity.  It was hilarious and enjoyable.

On the other side, the people who had supported President Trump were elated.  There was well-earned jubilation and happiness.  There was also a lot of gloating.  It made me think.  In my email, there was a reminder from a family member about what is truly important in this moment.  Part of it read, “It is imperative that followers of Christ be ever-mindful that we are to be salt and light in this troubled time in our nation.  We have a connection to our Heavenly Father that the world needs.”  While the temptation to gloat is understandable, we as conservatives need to restrain ourselves.  Our ultimate goal is to point people towards Jesus.  If we rub in our victory too much, it will turn off some people who might be open to Christianity and drive them away.  We need to be good winners.  To use a sports analogy, it is like watching the opposing team win the World Series and celebrate on your home field.  It is a terrible feeling, and only makes you want to beat them more the next year.  When it comes to God (or politics), we do not want them to hold a grudge like that.   We want them to join us.

This is also important for other practical reasons.  Our nation is still very divided.  We need to win people over permanently, or we will lose elections in the future.  The best way to change our government is to persuade people.  If people whose candidate lost see us rubbing salt in their wounds, they are unlikely to even entertain our ideas.

This does not mean we should not be joyful and excited.  We definitely should be.  This is a great triumph for our country.  It does not even mean that you cannot gloat to anybody, but you need to know which of your friends have a sense of humor and can take some playful ribbing.  It just means that we should try our best not to permanently close off others to our ideas, and especially to God.

While President Trump’s victory is a win for all law-abiding citizens in this country, almost half of the electorate does not see it that way.  They have bought into the media attacks on President Trump and half of America.  They are scared.  They have been told the lie that President Trump will be a fascist strongman who will rule with an iron fist.  Is this true?  Of course not.  We know it, but many of the people who were getting their news from ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, or any other far-left propaganda outlet believe it.  If you believed our country was being taken over by an authoritarian dictator, you would be pretty upset about it, too.

Fortunately, these negative expectations should actually make it easier for us to win people over.  Our side is so far from authoritarianism that it should quickly become obvious.  President Trump would be the first authoritarian dictator ever whose policies were designed to force you to have more freedom, keep us out of wars, and take less of our money.  In just about every area of life, President Trump’s policies are less intrusive than those of Democrats.  The Democrats claim that President Trump would be the dictator, while they are the party that mandates a million things that we cannot afford and do not need or want.  They forced people to close their businesses.  They mandated that we lock ourselves in our homes.  They closed down our churches.  They mandated we cover our faces and get experimental shots.  They are mandating electric cars that most people cannot afford.  They threaten you with fines if your health insurance is not acceptable to them.  They push mandatory gun buyback programs.  They force your daughters to play sports against biological boys.  They want to confiscate more of your hard-earned money.  The side claiming that President Trump will be an authoritarian is the same side that wants to control just about every aspect of your life.

There are, of course, people who have dug in so deep that nothing will convince them.  For those who are less radical and still have common sense, encourage them to turn off the network news and keep an open mind to some of what President Trump is likely to accomplish.  Do not let the mainstream media spin good news into bad.  If they are expecting authoritarianism, their fears will quickly be assuaged.

If we show people positive results without being obnoxious, they will start to see the light.  If they see that those positive results and our kindness are driven by our faith in God, then we can be salt and light to those who are angry, frightened, overwhelmed or disheartened, no matter their views or what side they are on. This should be our ultimate goal.

My Rapture Will

“The world is getting really bad.  I think the rapture will happen within the next 12 years.”  I was dating a girl who made that prediction to me, and that was about 10 years ago.  For those of you who are not familiar, the rapture is the term used to describe when the Lord takes believers out of the world before the seven-year tribulation period prophesied about in the Bible. 

At the time she said that I was pretty skeptical for two reasons.  First, the Bible is clear “that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2) and “…that day and hour no one knows.” (Mark 13:32)  That guarantees that the only time we can rule out for the rapture is any specific time when somebody says it will happen.  In her defense, though, she was not predicting a specific day and hour.  She was just guessing a general time frame. 

The other reason was that I looked back at the other times in history where God gave up on us turning it around and realized that He is very patient.  Think about it.  The first time he brought large-scale judgment down on people was the flood.  He waited until Noah and his family were the only ones left worth saving in the entire world.  That is patience!  The other example is when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.  In that instance, He told Abraham that He was going to destroy those cities and Abraham negotiated with him.  Abraham asked if God would destroy the city if there were 50 good people there.  God said no.  Then he lowered it to 45.  God said no.  Abraham kept haggling all the way down to 10 good people and God said He would spare the cities for the sake of 10.  In the end, as we know, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because 10 could not be found, and Lot and his daughters were the only ones who survived.  Again, God is patient!

All this being said, I am starting to think that she might not be as far off as I assumed at the time.  It is hard to deny that end-time prophesies are starting to line up so well that it’s hard to believe that anybody can doubt the Bible anymore.  There are even groups who are trying to push for the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, which we know will be there during the tribulation.  With dominos falling like they are it would not surprise me if her 12-year guess was close.  Then again, it could be 100 years away still.  The only certainty is that it’s closer now than ever before, and we should be prepared.

This is what gave me the idea for a rapture will.  I’ve thought about writing a normal will before but put it off because I’m still young, healthy, and extremely attractive. I also think it is a big decision who to leave my money to.  I’m single and have no kids so at this point I do not have a responsibility to take care of anybody.  I used to think about who would have the most fun with it.  As shallow as that sounds, it still matters to me.  I would not want it to be wasted on somebody who follows the lockdown rules and sits inside hiding.  I want it to be enjoyed.  On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to leave it all to someone who would blow through it all on frivolous stuff like caviar and spider monkeys.  One spider monkey, fine, but definitely not plural.  Ultimately, what I really want is to leave my money to people who will use it for the most important purpose there is, to bring people to God so that they end up in Heaven.  This makes the obvious heirs to my inheritance have one necessary quality.  They must be good Christians. 

This works when deciding on my normal will, but a big problem arises when it comes to a rapture will.  All of the other good Christians will have been whooshed away with me.  I can’t leave it to my parents because they will also be gone.  Any Christian friends will have also disappeared.  It would be pointless to leave it to my church because any true believers there will be with me.  Unfortunately, I do have family members who may not believe and will still be around, but I do not want to give my money to someone who will not use it to spread the truth about what is going on and how to be saved.  It sounds like I may as well just burn the money, doesn’t it?  Wrong!  I figured out a way to at least make an educated guess as to who to leave my inheritance to. 

To do this we have to look at what we do know about the seven-year tribulation period after the rapture.  We know that although Christians will have been removed from the world and the antichrist will be ruling, many people will realize that they missed the boat and will turn to God.  Further, Revelation 7:1-8 tells us that 144,000 people will be sealed as servants of God during that time; 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel.  So, we know for a fact that 144,000 Jews will realize that Jesus is the Messiah and will become witnesses who bring others to Him during this time. 

Now that we have this information to go on, I can narrow down who to set as my beneficiary.  Since it has to be somebody who will be left behind, and I want the biggest probability that my inheritance is used to further the Kingdom of God, I will leave my money to a Jewish person who is both smart and preferably someone who has influence.  My mind instantly went to my favorite radio personality and founder of Prager University, Dennis Prager, and another great mind and founder of The Daily Wire, Ben Shapiro. 

I have to admit, this was supposed to be the end of the article.  Then I noticed Revelation 14:4, which says of the 144,000, “These are the ones who were not defiled by women, for they are virgins.”  That throws off my plan since both Prager and Shapiro have children.  They will not be part of the “sealed” group mentioned in Revelation.  Fortunately, this does not mean they will not be saved.  Revelation 14:9-17 tells us that a “great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues,” will be saved during the tribulation. 

Knowing all of this, here is what I have decided for my rapture will.  If at any time I go missing, and so do many other Christians including my parents, my sister Amber, and some Christian public figures like Pastor Jack Hibbs, Vice President Mike Pence, and Tim Tebow, then my money should be split evenly between Dennis Prager and Ben Shapiro.  Since I have no way of knowing who are virgins, I have to take a chance that Prager and Shapiro will be part of the “great multitude” of converts.  I know that they are both wise men who study the Torah (the Old Testament to Christians) and I think that makes them a better bet than most.  However, if you see Ben Shapiro at the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem with a spider monkey on each shoulder, you know I made an incorrect choice.

Free Market Solutions to Big Government Bullies

Big government is bad whether my side is in charge or the other guys are. 

We as conservatives should try not to use the government as a sledgehammer to force people to do what we want like Democrats do.  They want us to stay home and close our restaurants; they use the government, and threats to take away liquor licenses to strong arm those restaurants.  They want a baker or a florist to participate in a same-sex wedding; they use government threats and fines to force them to go against their religious beliefs.  They want “free” healthcare, college, or whatever else they think they can promise for votes; they use the government to confiscate money from people to pay for it.

Conservatives should not become authoritarian tyrants like those on the left.  We should be true to our principles and keep the government out of people’s lives as much as possible.  Instead of wielding government power to get our way, I suggest we use imaginative free market ways to fight for our side when we can.  I have a few suggestions.

1. This is an idea for Christians who still want to work in the wedding industry.  Bakers, florists and musicians have been targeted by bullies who cannot tolerate anyone who does not agree with them or does not do exactly what they want.  The most publicized of these instances was Jack Phillips, the baker in Colorado who politely declined to make a cake for a same-sex wedding because of religious convictions.  In true leftist fashion, the couple ran to the government to compel Phillips to bake cakes for same-sex weddings.  He had to fight the government all the way up to the Supreme Court where, fortunately, he prevailed. 

There are certainly times to fight in court and I am thrilled that Jack Phillips was victorious, but my solution would keep the government out of it and instead use the freedom to choose.  I suggest simply putting in place a policy that says this:

“A percentage of the profits from all same-sex weddings will be donated in the name of the couple to charity.  They may choose between Alliance Defending Freedom, Family Research Council, or Focus on the Family.”

2. The loss of liberty we have experienced in 2020 is unprecedented in the United States.  The government has locked us in our homes, taken our jobs, closed our businesses, cancelled our sports and entertainment, and even stopped us from seeing a friendly smile to brighten our day. 

This is a very urgent fight right now, and it has to be done through the free market in places like California because big government Democrats control every part of the government.  The method of attack is pretty clear.  Businesses have to fight the government every step of the way and we, the customers, have to support them by frequenting the places that are fighting.  In fact, in May I started a fundraiser through my blog for people to donate to businesses that opened up against the lockdown orders.  Last week my friends and I went down and presented a check to Jeff Gourley, the owner of Nomads Canteen, which was the first restaurant in Orange County to open up back in May.  If you want to donate, click here and we will give it to another deserving business who is standing up for our freedom. 

3. When Colin Kaepernick started slandering our police as racists who go to work looking for black people to murder and NFL players all around the league jumped on board with that lie I anticipated a problem.  How was I going to show my disapproval?  The obvious answer was to stop watching NFL games, but I dismissed that solution because I could see it leading to quite a moral dilemma for me down the road.  You see, consistency is very important to me.  I could handle boycotting the NFL because football is not one of my top priorities, but baseball is my life, and what would I do when some brain-dead baseball player decided to kneel during the national anthem? 

Then it came to me.  It was such a brilliant alternative that I think we should try to make it a movement.  These kneeling players wanted to make a difference, so I thought of a way to let them know that they did.  I vowed on social media that for every cop hating player who kneels for the anthem I will donate $1 in their name to President Trump’s re-election campaign fund.  Today I am fulfilling that promise by donating $212 to President Trump’s campaign.   It took some research but the best lists I found showed 211 NFL players who joined in on the anthem protests.  I intend to tweet every player that I can find to let them know about their contribution. 

Oh yeah.  You might be wondering about that extra dollar.  It is for Bruce Maxwell, the only Major League Baseball player who knelt during the national anthem.  He is no longer in the league, not because of his protest, but because he might have trouble hitting off of some of the Little Leaguers I train.